The Seventh Dalai Lama (Kelzang Gyatso)

Kelzang Gyatso (1708–1757 CE), the seventh Dalai Lama, was born at Lithang in eastern Tibet (Kham), in what is now Sichuan, and was enthroned in Lhasa in 1720. He lived through a period of intense upheaval as the Manchu Qing dynasty steadily formalized its authority over Tibet, and—raised and educated in part in exile—he was for much of his life kept from political power, which he assumed substantially only in his final decade. He is best remembered as a learned and prolific author of commentaries, liturgies, and religious poetry. His life and dates are well documented.